Tag: fruit

Pomegranate: the fruit with sparkling grains – Italian Cuisine

When closed, the pomegranate it almost looks like a small sculpture. When cut, then, it reveals red beans, sparkling, transparent, similar to precious stones, which make it a very special fruit. With numerous gifts, gastronomic and more.

An ancient auspicious tradition
The pomegranate is native to Persia and there is evidence of its cultivation since the most remote antiquity, also mentioned in the Song of Songs, the poetic biblical text dedicated to love. Pomegranates ripen in the Muslim Paradise and are blessed by Buddhists. As often happens with fruit rich in seeds, they are a symbol of fertility And wealth and, as such, good wishes. From these ancient traditions derives the one that wants the pomegranate present on the festive tables, especially on the occasion of new Year's Eve, to bring prosperity and luck in the year that is about to begin.

Where does it come from
Today, foreign productions mostly come from Spain, Turkey And Israel. Its increasing diffusion on our markets is due to the fact that, in recent years, it has also begun to be cultivated in ours center-south, in particular in Calabria and Sicily.

How it is made
The pomegranate is a fruit with a curious morphology. In fact … it is a false fruit! It is a kind of big one berry with an internal white membrane (called "cica") that divides it into segments. Each of the cloves contains i grains which, in turn, contain i sow. Skin and membrane make up about 40% of the whole pomegranate. Therefore, from an average weight pomegranate, around 300 g, about 180 g of grains are obtained. The taste is mildly sour, sweet without being cloying. Furthermore, the juice abundant content in the grains makes them particularly fresh e thirst quenchers. Finally, from a nutritional point of view, the pomegranate is rich – like all red fruits – in antioxidant substances that made it a superfood, decreeing its current success.

How it cleans up
Although the peel appears leathery, almost woody, to open the pomegranate a good knife is enough to cut it with in the middle or in wedges, and then detach the beans from the membrane with your fingers or a teaspoon. If you work in a bowl, you will recover all the juice that comes out during this operation.

How you squeeze
Juice, which has become very fashionable, can be obtained simply with one juicer, on which to pass the half fruits. They can also be used centrifuges or extractors, in which to work only the beans. The latter can also be done blend, but in this case the juice must be filtered through a fine sieve, to retain the skins and seeds.

In long drinks and cocktails
Brewed at home or bought ready, the juice can be the basis for many cocktails. After all, it is obtained from the pomegranate la grenadine, classic bright red syrup used both in mixing and in non-alcoholic drinks. It goes well with cocktails "Sour", i.e. acids, for example based on vodka or white rum, lime or lemon juice. It can be used to replace a part of the tonic in the Gin tonic or the cranberry juice of the Cosmopolitan. Mixed with Prosecco becomes a perfect holiday aperitif. Simply, you can pour a teaspoon of grains on the bottom of cups and flutes in which to serve it bubbly wine, to toast the New Year's and wish happiness and luck.

In the kitchen
In pastry shop, pomegranate juice can be used for sweet sauces and jellies but also in soft doughs, such as that of plumcakes and muffins, in the creams and in mousses. The very decorative beans can enrich fresh fruit toppings, for example in pies, and embellish simple fruit salads. But it is in the savory cuisine that this fruit gives unprecedented sensations. Try to combine a handful of grains, at the end of cooking, on a risotto parmigiana or, better still, radicchio, of which it softens the bitter notes. Use the juice for marinate fish and crustaceans, from salmon to prawns, and serve them decorating the plates with the shiny grains. Add them to chicken salads, capon or other poultry typical of the festive tables or spread them on carpaccio, on bresaola and parmesan, on carne salada. Make it a sauce for the roasts or join them to stuffed of birds and rollé. Combine them with Side Dishes of red cabbage and savoy cabbage, raw or lightly seared, to fennel, cauliflower or broccoli salads … Or try our recipes!

Risotto with red cabbage, apple and pomegranate. Peel 300 g of red cabbage and chop finely in a blender. Peel and clean a Golden apple, then cut it into cubes. Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan with 2 juniper berries and the apple. Deglaze with half a glass of Calvados, add salt and pepper, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes. Drain the apple and juniper from the cooking juices. Add a drizzle of oil, a small chopped onion and let it simmer. Add 320 g of Carnaroli rice, toast it, add the red cabbage (except for a spoon) and cook, gradually pouring in about a liter of boiling broth. Blend the apple and mix it in a small bowl with 50 g of sour cream. Remove the rice from the heat and stir in 40 g of grated parmesan and a knob of butter. Serve with apple quenelles, pomegranate seeds (40 g in total) and the raw cabbage kept aside. For 4 people.

Guinea fowl, clementine and pomegranate salad. Cut a pomegranate in half and squeeze the juice with a juicer. Brown a kilo of guinea fowl in pieces in a pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the wine, salt, pepper and continue cooking in a covered pot for about 35 minutes, adding the pomegranate juice but as the bottom dries. Turn off, let it cool, remove the skin from the guinea fowl and fray the pulp. Peel 4 clementines and cut them into slices. Arrange 160 g of salad, slices of clementines and guinea fowl pulp in a serving dish. Shell another half pomegranate and sprinkle the grains on the salad. Add 40 g of chopped walnut kernels and season with oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. For 6 people.

Fennel, oranges and pomegranate. Peel 3 oranges and cut the wedges sharp, collecting all the juice. Clean and julienne 4 tender white celery ribs. Peel and thinly slice 2 fennel. Emulsify in a small bowl a tablespoon of the orange juice with a tablespoon of lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of oil, salt and pepper. Arrange the vegetables and orange wedges on a plate and season with the prepared sauce. Complete with 200 g of crescenza reduced to flakes, a handful of chopped walnut kernels and the grains of half a pomegranate. For 4 people.

Panettone with citrus and pomegranate. Julienne the peel of an orange, a pink grapefruit and a lemon. Blanch them for a minute in boiling water and drain. Pour 100 g of sugar and 1 dl of water into a saucepan, bring to a boil, add the peel and cook for 5-6 minutes until the syrup begins to thicken. Turn off and let cool. In a saucepan, mix 4 dl of fresh orange juice, 3 dl of fresh pink grapefruit juice and 3 dl of pomegranate juice with 80 g of sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce the juice by a third, add 3 g of agar agar and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Let it cool and add 2 tablespoons of orange liqueur. Cut 200 g of panettone into cubes and toast them under the oven grill. Let them cool and divide them into 8 cups. Pour over the citrus reduction and let it cool in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Garnish with the candied peel and the grains of half a pomegranate. For 8 people.

December 2021

Exotic fruit: tropical or "local", we choose the best! – Italian Cuisine

On the market stalls, in the super trolley and in our fruit bowl, there are many varieties of esotic fruit which are extremely familiar to us, so much so that we have forgotten that they come, originally or literally, from distant countries. Without going to bother them citrus fruits, which came to us in a distant past from Southeast Asia, just think of the municipalities Kiwi, who traveled the road from China to New Zealand at the end of the nineteenth century, to arrive here around the seventies and find such fertile ground that, today, Italy is the second largest producer in the world. They continue to travel from the Tropics to our shores pineapple And bananas, but we hardly remember them anymore and we consider them almost ordinary. The alchechengi they are a pastry classic that has always covered them in chocolate. And we associate the coconut more to the hawkers on our beaches than to the Indonesian palm trees.

Varieties from all over the world
To grasp a touch of exoticism we must look to avocado, mango, papaya, passion fruit (or maracuja) and even more niche varieties. Among these, there is the Brazilian feijoa, similar to a smooth-skinned kiwi, with white pulp that reminds of banana when ripe. The Australian finger lime it is a small citrus fruit which when cut reveals a "heart" of transparent pearls. The South American pitaya, also called dragon fruit, externally it can be mottled pink or lemon yellow, inside it has a white or fuchsia pulp strewn with tiny crunchy black seeds. The Chinese lychees, with a thick and rough shell, they contain a pearly pulp and are very similar to Asians rambutan, with the rind covered by a sort of rigid down. The scarlet tamarillo Ecuadorian looks like a small tomato but is sweet and aromatic. The yellow one granadilla it is part of the passion fruit family, of which it recalls texture and taste.

Western crops
The surprise is that some of these fruits, following the well-known climatic changes, are becoming more and more Western, if not really "local". There carom, a yellow star-shaped fruit from which very decorative slices are obtained, is widely cultivated in Florida. But also close to us, since Lazio at the Sicily, passing through Basilicata And Calabria, avocado, mango, papaya, feijoa, finger lime productions are gaining momentum. Often these are even organic products that combine the freshness of a "short kilometer" product with healthiness and sustainability.

Transport makes … maturation!
Just read thelabel to understand the origin which, in turn, can affect quality. In fact, the longer and slower the journey to reach our stores, the more likely we will be in front of fruit with a non-optimal degree of ripeness. In fact, those who come from East and South America by boat, taking up to 20-30 days, they are picked still unripe and stored in cold rooms. Upon purchase, they may still be hard and not ready for consumption, while aging away from the sun could make them less sugary and tasty. Conversely, those that have come down to us by air (which is always indicated on labels, boxes and packaging, as opposed to maritime transport which is "omitted") were detached from the plant at the right time, usually 4-5 days before "landing" on our markets. This, of course, affects the price, significantly higher, rewarded by the fact that the quality is much better. Even better if the fruits were born and grown in our regions or just across the sea, in North Africa.

How to choose them
Reading the label, of course, is not enough. And it is not always easy to understand if we are buying a good, tasty and aromatic product. The truth is that we are not very familiar with these fruits and it is often difficult to test their quality. However, some tricks can be used. A pineapple that shows up too green and odorless should warn us, like the almost brown one that releases scents of fermentation. Fruits with soft skin, which can be tasted, such as avocado, mango or papaya, must turn out yielding without appearing too tender and not presenting very dark or blackened parts. On the contrary, passion fruits are bought with a tight and smooth skin, but they are at the right point of ripeness when it becomes shriveled. The feijoa must start presenting one tapping dark on the skin: if it is uniform bright green, the pulp will be white and cheeky, instead of cream and sugary color. The "leaves" that wrap the alchechengi must be crunchy, not wilted. Finally, the coconut must appear heavy, a sign that inside it is still rich in its water, which keeps the pulp moist.

Keep them out of the fridge
Whatever the origin, but even more so if it is still unripe fruit, storage must take place outside the fridge, at room temperature, albeit away from light, direct heat and excessive humidity. Exotic fruits are in fact "accustomed" to tropical climates and the cold risks ruining them, as anyone who tries to refrigerate bananas knows. The ideal is to keep them closed in paper bag, avoiding mixing the qualities, and in any case consume them within a few days of purchase.

What they know and how they match
A quality that is somewhat common to all exotic fruits andacidity, more or less marked, which balances them sugary components. For this reason they are excellent in pastry for creams, fruit salads and jellies, but also in savory dishes. Among the most suitable combinations, the one between papaya and i cured meat like ham and culatello, like our melon. Mango marries well i shellfish more elegant, both raw and cooked, and they can be prepared chutney sweet and sour perfect with roast meats, especially di pig. The seed-rich pulp of the passion fruit, or its centrifuged juice, also goes well with shrimp, scampi, and company. Thinly sliced or grated coconut is great on the rice Pilaf and in soups inspired by Thai curries. All can be added to mixed salads. L'exception which confirms the rule is avocado: pasty and buttery, it is not at all acidic and not even sweet. In fact, it is rarely used in pastry, while it is often combined with the well-known pungent chilli and raw onion, for example in the famous guacamole, excellent with eggs, salmon and tomatoes, on toast, in bagels and in exotic versions of the club sandwich. The watchword remains to experiment and let oneself go, even in the home kitchen, to exotic fusion suggestions.

Francesca Romana Mezzadri
December 2021

Winter fruit salad with caramelized syrup – Italian Cuisine

1) Toasted the almonds in a small pan and transfer them to a plate. In the same pan paid the sugar and caramelize it over a high flame by rotating the container until the sugar melts and takes on color. United caramel almonds, pour everything on a sheet of parchment paper and let it cool.
2) Peel live four oranges and separate the wedges. Grainy and wash the grapes. Pour the remaining orange juice into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add a third of the minced brittle and stir until melted. Let it cool down the syrup.
3) In a bowl jumbled up the orange wedges and grapes, pour over the syrup and let it rest for 1 hour. Serve the fruit salad with the crunchy remaining in small pieces.

Posted on 04/12/2021

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